Reunited on the Sunny Side
A/N: Huge spoiler alert if you haven't seen TS 3 ! Taking place after the events of the final installment to the Toy Story series, Bo Peep is donated to Sunny Side and has much news on Wheezy and Etch and their owners as well as their new lives.
Chapter 1-Bo's Back !
Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Bullseye and the rest of the gang had made a comfortable home for themselves with Bonnie. Rex, through a little bit of computer internet surfing, had found that Bonnie's mother was Emily herself. This surprised Jessie, who had always thought that Emily had left her behind and forgotten her; but this was not the case. No, Emily had remembered Jessie and in a way, they had been reunited and she couldn't have been happier. But she never expected her circumstances to be brought back to her original owner to be anything like this. She and the others had been through quite an ordeal and the memory of it was still fresh in her mind. But at least now she was with those she loved and she couldn't be happier. Still, she saw that Woody's heart ached for someone to be by his side. The other toys didn't mind being with their typical group, enjoying playtime together with Bonnie, but Woody was different. Inside his heart, he still missed Bo, and he wondered where she was now and how her new owner was treating her.
It had been a rather rainy day and the children had spent all their time in the daycare playing with toys until their parents took them home. It was late, but Bonnie's mother had walked in with a box of newcomers, and of course, Jack from the welcoming committee made them feel right at home. They were introduced to Slick, Sparks, Clunk and Twitch as well as Ken and Barbie, who had been recently married.
One of the toys in the box was none other than Bo Peep.
"Bo ? Is that really you ?", Woody asked, not believing his eyes. The sweet southern belle fluttered her eyelashes and twirled her umbrella flirtatiously.
"It's me sugar. Do I have stories to tell you !", Bo said, taking Woody unexpectedly up in a hug, which made him blush floridly.
"We bet you do, Bo. And we're willing to listen to every word !", Slink chimed in, as she leaned down to embrace him. One by one, she embraced all her friends, lavishing the love and friendship she had missed so much from her owner, Ellen.
Chapter 2-Wheezy and Etch
"So, what's the story, huh ?", Jessie asked, curiously.
"I'm getting to that, Jessie !", Bo replied, with a light-hearted chuckle.
"Yeah, let Bo talk !", Mr. Potato head stated, in his usual somewhat authoritative manner.
"My owner, Ellen isn't a little girl anymore. She's grown up and she decided to donate me to Sunny Side. I couldn't believe it when I heard the news that I was being given to the daycare, and to be honest, I was frightened. But once I saw your shining faces and heard your voices, I knew I was back home once again. Where I belong.", Bo said, with some joyful tears in her eyes.
"But what about Wheezy and Etch ?", Mrs. Potato Head asked, curiously.
"They are in different homes. The last I saw of them, Wheezy was bought up in a yard sale and he belongs to a fellow who collects penguins. As for Etch, he was sold on Ebay, and I am thinking he is in a museum somewhere.", Bo said. She went on to say that the owners were both very kind and both got a lot of attention.
"But neither of them get played with. That must be horrible." , Rex lamented.
"You make it sound like prison !", Bo retorted, knowing that museums weren't awful places where toys never got played with. In fact, when the toys were being cleaned, some of the guards did play with them every so often, so it wasn't always the case that they weren't held,
"Are they happy, though ?", a sunflower toy asked, curiously. Bo thought about the sage sunflower's question.
"I'd like to think they are. I know I'm much happier since I arrived here. I think it was an act of providence that led me back to you. We're one big family again !", Bo said, hugging Rex from the side.
"That's all that really matters, isn't it ? This is such a happy occasion ! Oh, I have so many other toys to introduce you to. You're going to love it here, dear !", Mrs. Potato Head said, taking her hand and spiriting her away into the Butterfly Room where the older kids played more gently with them. It wasn't often that they were brought to daycare, but every so often, Bonnie would take the whole lot of toys she had inherited from her cousin Andy to Sunnyside to share with the other children.
Chapter 3-Rudolph the Preppy Rabbit
Nothing much changed, except when birthdays rolled around for Bonnie. Since she was still young, her mother often bought her toys for such an occasion. Many of the toys that joined them were plush, cute and cuddly. Among these new bears and dollies was a shy pastel yellow rabbit in a white polo shirt and shorts named Rudolph. 'Rod', as many of the other toys called him, couldn't get him to say a word edgewise.
"I don't know what's wrong with the little critter. He's been like that since he arrived.", Jessie said, concerned for the somewhat snobbish rabbit.
"Let me talk to him. Let me see if I can get anything out of him.", Buzz said. The others tried to convince him not to bother, but Buzz was headstrong and wanted to make the stuffy rabbit feel more at home.
"This is nothing like I remember in Sweden.", Rudolph began, finally opening up to Buzz.
"Oh, so are you too good for us ?", Mr. Pricklepants assessed in a stern, assuming tone.
"Actually, I believe I am, limey.", Rudolph quipped. Mr. Pricklepants wasn't one to have his temperament roused, but this particular situation was different. Before they could get into a fight, Trixie stopped them.
"This is no place for quarrelling. I hate fighting. It's so unnecessary.", Trixie confessed. Rudolph began that he felt out of place in a little girl's room. Where he was before, he was cherished as a 'timeless collectable worth millions' and had been owned originally by a rich dowager that was willing to leave him her inheritance when she died. Certainly it would be the first time in a toy's existence that someone like him would claim a sum of money so large. But, the dowager had never once held him or embraced him, and secretly he had missed that sensation. With Bonnie, it was a whole new world and his heart was filled with love for the first time.
"See, that wasn't so bad was it ?", Buzz asked, patting the somewhat pretentious polo-wearing rabbit on the back. For once, Rudolph didn't bat Buzz's hand away. Before, he had never had any 'friends', just other collectables in the dowager's house that looked out of the windowpane longingly at the massive lawn that stretched out before them. It seemed that the servants cutting the lawn were having more fun then they would ever dream of having while they were cooped up inside the estate.
"Actually, it wasn't. I'm sorry I was pompous before. I was despondent because I didn't know what it was like to be cared for, let alone to be wanted. I had friends, but…alas. They never spoke to me.", Rudolph lamented. At least now he would never have to worry about being lonely, abandoned or 'shelved' for the remainder of his natural life. He could now breathe a deep sigh of relief knowing that he would be cared for and taken good care of, and also that he was in the hands of other toys that would look out for him if anyone meant him any malice. But among the toys he was with now, no such thing would ever occur.
Epilogue
Woody felt complete once more, as he had in the past. Bo hadn't changed one bit, and he was glad by that. Ellen had been a fantastic owner and the memory of her remained sewn on the tag underneath Bo's fabric hoopskirt.
Rudolph became more used to the middle-class way of life. And, if he had to be completely honest, he didn't mind being part of the 'everyman' crowd. Truthfully, he had found rich people spoiled, conceited and selfish; the very aspects he didn't wish to possess. And thanks to talking about his past hurts to another fellow toy, everything had been solved. And he couldn't be more elated.
As for Slinky, Rex, Trixie, Dolly, the Aliens; everyone, all was well. The life they had wasn't always perfect since Bonnie would get bumps and bruises from playing outside. But, they were always there to comfort her in her time of need. They knew that someday she would grow older, but they had a feeling that they would be staying in Sunnyside for the remainder of their natural existences. Where they went after that, well, that was anyone's guess. But no matter what they did, or where they went, they were a family and they stuck together through good times and bad. They would always embody the true meaning of friendship, come what may.
The End
